Wendell S. Arbuckle

Affectionately known as “Mr. Ice Cream” to thousands of people worldwide, the late Dr. Wendell S. Arbuckle played an important role in Missouri’s ice industry as well as that of the nation and world.

In 1940, under the guidance of W.H.E. Reid, MU professor of dairy husbandry, Wendell earned a doctorate in dairy science. In the process he did benchmark research on ice cream texture.

His career of excellence in teaching, research, consulting, and writing began at MU. It then took him to Texas A&M University, North Carolina State University, and the University of Maryland as well as to lecture halls, laboratories, and dairies around the world. He made history as he continually strove to improve ice cream and the skills of the people who made and sold it.

Communicating his knowledge of ice cream to others was one of Wendell’s favorite activities. He wrote the first edition of the highly regarded text book, “Ice Cream” in 1966. Second, third, and fourth editions followed in 1971, 1977, and 1986. Wendell is co-author, along with Robert T. Marshall, Arbuckle professor of dairy science at MU, of the fifth edition published in 1996. The text is written especially for college students and ice cream manufacturers.

Wendell also wrote “Ice Cream Service Handbook” for retailers and, for the curious, “The Little Ice Cream Handbook.” Wendell’s wife, Ruth, completed “Ice Cream Recipes and Formulas” soon after his death in 1987.

The Arbuckles recognized that ice cream technology must be improved continually, that new students must learn, and that the industry’s needs for people and information must be met.

In early 1986, Wendell returned to the University of Missouri to speak at the dedication of renovated Eckles Hall. The occasion gave Wendell and Ruth a chance to assess the prospects for a special frozen desserts program that included teaching, research, and service at MU. As a result they invested $5,000 at that time to start an endowment. They also invested much of their time and more funds to accomplish their goal.

About $150,000 in gifts was received from the ice cream industry. This money was used to establish the Arbuckle Endowment and to help equip the newly remodeled ice cream pilot plant and retail store now known as Buck’s Ice Cream Shop.

The Arbuckle endowment mirrors the Arbuckles’ confidence that MU has the capacity, interest, and tradition to support an internationally renowned program which specializes in the science and technology of ice cream formulation, production, and distribution.

Wendell was born in Scottsburg, Ind., in 1911. He did undergraduate work at Purdue University where he worked his way through college by milking cows and working in dining halls. After working two years as herdsman at Earlham College, he came to MU on a fellowship.

Not only did he earn his doctoral degree at MU but he also met and married Ruth Weaver, daughter of Prof. LA. Weaver, of the MU Department of Animal Husbandry.

The Arbuckles enjoyed serving ice cream to many customers from their Columbia ice cream store in the years after Wendell’s retirement. Signs and a model of their ice cream store are part of the current decor in Buck’s Ice Cream Shop on the MU campus.

The Arbuckles had two children – J. Gordon Arbuckle, Boulder, Colo., and Wendy E. Arbuckle, Clarkville, Md.